1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and other vehicles and, in particular, to the maintenance and diagnosis of electronic and other systems on an aircraft or other vehicle. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for auditing or controlling the maintenance or diagnosis of systems on an aircraft or other vehicle by the aircraft or other vehicle itself.
2. Background
Modern aircraft are extremely complex. For example, an aircraft may have many types of electronic and other systems on board. An electronic system on an aircraft may be a line-replaceable unit (LRU). A line-replaceable unit is designed to be easily replaceable.
An electronic system may take on various forms. An electronic system on an aircraft may be, for example, without limitation, a flight management system, an autopilot, an in-flight entertainment system, a communications system, a navigation system, a flight controller, a flight recorder, and a collision avoidance system. The various electronic systems on an aircraft may communicate with each other via digital networks on the aircraft.
Aircraft operators are entities that operate aircraft. Examples of aircraft operators include airlines and military units. Aircraft operators may be responsible for the maintenance of aircraft. Maintenance of an aircraft may include performing various maintenance tasks on the electronic and other systems on the aircraft. For example, without limitation, maintenance tasks may include reworking or replacing systems or parts of systems on the aircraft. Maintenance of an aircraft also may include performing various diagnostic tasks. For example, without limitation, diagnostic tasks may be performed to determine the condition of systems on the aircraft, to determine appropriate maintenance operations to perform on the systems, or for another appropriate purpose or various combinations of purposes. Maintenance and diagnostic tasks may be performed on the systems on an aircraft by appropriate maintenance personnel or other personnel using appropriate maintenance devices or other appropriate tools.
Instructions for performing maintenance on an aircraft may be received by maintenance personnel from an aircraft operator or other appropriate entity. For example, without limitation, the instructions may identify various diagnostic tasks, maintenance tasks, or both diagnostic tasks and maintenance tasks to be performed on the aircraft. The instructions may be provided to the maintenance personnel on paper, electronically, or both on paper and electronically.
Maintenance personnel may perform maintenance on the aircraft as indicated in the instructions received from the aircraft operator or other entity. Maintenance personnel may refer to a maintenance manual or other appropriate documentation to perform the maintenance on the aircraft as indicated in the instructions. For example, without limitation, the maintenance manual or other documentation may identify specific procedures for performing maintenance tasks, diagnostic tasks, or both maintenance tasks and diagnostic tasks indicated in the instructions provided to the maintenance personnel. The maintenance manual or other documentation used by the maintenance personnel to perform maintenance on an aircraft may be provided on paper, electronically, or both on paper and electronically, by a manufacturer of the aircraft or other appropriate entity.
An aircraft operator may desire to maintain accurate records regarding maintenance of an aircraft. For example, without limitation, an aircraft operator may maintain records of maintenance and diagnostic tasks performed on an aircraft to comply with government regulations and for other appropriate purposes.
Currently, records regarding maintenance of an aircraft may be created manually on paper by maintenance personnel. For example, maintenance personnel may sign a piece of paper identifying maintenance to be performed on an aircraft to indicate that the maintenance identified was performed by the maintenance personnel. Current manual methods of providing a record of aircraft maintenance may provide limited information to the aircraft operator regarding the maintenance performed on the aircraft. The aircraft operator may desire to obtain more information regarding maintenance performed on an aircraft than is currently provided by maintenance personnel. Moreover, it may be desirable to obtain such information regarding maintenance performed on an aircraft in an efficient and accurate manner.
An aircraft operator also may desire to control maintenance of an aircraft by establishing various policies for aircraft maintenance. Such policies may include various rules for performing maintenance tasks, diagnostic tasks, or both maintenance and diagnostic tasks on an aircraft. For example, without limitation, such policies may identify conditions under which various maintenance tasks, diagnostic tasks, or both maintenance tasks and diagnostic tasks may or may not be performed on the aircraft. The aircraft operator may desire to ensure that such policies are followed when maintenance is performed on the aircraft. Current systems and methods for the maintenance of aircraft and other vehicles may not provide assurance that policies for performing maintenance are being complied with.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a method and apparatus that take into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as possible other issues.